The Cottage Restaurant owner charged with tax felonies

MILL HALL — Fay Louise Courter, 52, of Mill Hall, was charged with 21 felonies and four misdemeanors for neglecting to pay taxes for years involved with her business, The Cottage Restaurant.

Courter was allegedly warned repeatedly from the government that she was neglecting to pay personal income taxes between 2017 and 2021, owing more than $80,000 in back taxes, according to investigators. She is listed as the president and treasurer for the restaurant and allegedly makes all of the hiring decisions.

Courter allegedly collected sales taxes for items sold at her various businesses between 2018 and 2022. She allegedly did not report any of the taxes collected and also failed to report her personal income taxes between 2017 to 2021, according to reports.

Courter had reportedly told investigators that her restaurant, dairy farm and catering business had been doing well, according to the attorney general’s office. She reportedly receives an annual salary of $65,000 from the restaurant.

Courter also owns The Cottage Creamery and a rental property.

In October of 2021, Courter signed an Act 46 Surrender Letter, outlining the taxes she was responsible for paying. She allegedly claimed that she was busy and forgot to pay and was told to set up a partial payment plan by Oct. 15 the same year, according to investigators.

On Oct. 18, 2021, she claimed she needed more time and on Oct. 26, a citation for $300 was filed against her.

Courter pleaded guilty to the citation, being fined a total of $394. Her taxes remained outstanding, investigators said.

Cooks at the restaurant are reportedly paid between $10 and $14 per hour. Waitresses are paid $2.83 per hour plus any tips. Courter allegedly controls the business and makes all the final decisions.

Courter is being charged with 21 counts of theft by failure to make required deposits of funds, a third-degree felony; failure to make required deposits of funds, a first-degree misdemeanor; and three counts of failure to keep/file registered person’s income tax receipts, an ungraded misdemeanor. She was arrested in mid-May and appeared before Mill Hall District Judge John Maggs.

Courter was released from custody on a $2,500 unsecured bail. A formal arraignment is scheduled for June 27 at the Clinton County Courthouse.